Accountability in Public Expenditures in Latin America and the Caribbean : Revitalizing Reforms in Financial Management and Procurement

Abstract

Based on a sample of countries in Latin
 America and the Caribbean, this book sets out areas in which
 governments could focus to improve the quality of public
 expenditures. It seeks to identify, from a regional
 perspective, first, the cross-cutting strengths and
 weaknesses of public financial management and procurement
 systems, and second, the characteristics of and lessons that
 can be learned from reform programs. In undertaking this
 analysis, the authors have taken a particular interest in
 establishing what role civil society organizations may have
 played, or could play, in promoting transparency and
 accountability in the public sector. More specifically, this
 book focuses on the specific institutional arrangements and
 the policy choices that underpin the management of public
 finances, which are set out primarily in a sample of
 publicly available Country Financial Accountability
 Assessments and Country Procurement Assessment Reports
 undertaken by the World Bank and its development partners.